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When you open the old prayerbook-like pages of The Book of Letters you enter a special world of sacred tradition and religious feeling. More than just symbols, all twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet overflow with meanings and personalities of their own. Rabbi Kushner draws from ancient Judaic sources, weaving Talmudic commentary, Hasidic folk tales, and Kabbalistic mysteries around the letters. Each letter is illuminated and, together with the comments, is presented in the author's original calligraphy, recalling the look and feel of ancient medieval manuscripts. For all people, The Book of Letters is a text of basic religious and spiritual vocabulary. It brings deep insight and contemporary meaning to centuries-old traditions and relates the mystical realm to everyday life. With a special preface to this New 15th Lawrence Kushner is a Jew who is searching for a new spiritual idiom. A student striving to reconcile traditional piety with the contemporary world, he is a guide who leads his students by confronta tion with ancient text and ceremony. Rabbi Kushner serves as Rabbinic Chair man of Reform Judaism's Commission on Religious Living and as a member of the Board of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. He is on the faculty of the rabbinic school of Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Kushner has written and lectured extensively on the themes of personal and institutional spiritual renewaL His acclaimed books include: Honey from the

Rock: Visions of Jewish Mystical Renewal and The River of Light: Spirituality, Judaism, Consciousness.
He is Karen's husband and Noa, Zachary and Le v's f a t h e r. He is rabbi and story teller at congrega tion Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Anniversary 2nd Edition and a new section

on "ways people have used this book," these enhancements further beautify

The Book of Letters and testify to its

enduring meaning.

$24.95